Rockingham Castle, Corby, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

The Castle was built by William I and used regularly by the kings of England and their queens as a royal hunting lodge and administrative centre of Rockingham Forest until the 15th century when it fell into disrepair. In 1544 Edward Watson (died 1584), whose father was Surveyor to the Bishop of Lincoln, obtained a lease of the Castle and park. Over the next forty years he built a large but architecturally simple house based on the old banqueting house in the north bailey incorporating the structure of the medieval hall range. That building campaign was completed in 1631 by his grandson Lewis (died 1653), who bought the freehold of the Castle and park in 1619. During the Civil War the Castle was occupied by Parliamentary troops under Col Horseman, and much of the north and north-west wings were destroyed. At the end of the war the curtain wall was demolished together with the keep, leaving only the drum towers and eastern section of the wall intact. Lewis' son Edward (died 1689) carried out major restoration works, restoring the gallery wing to two-thirds of its original length and building Walker’s House on the foundation of an earlier building. It is probable that he also created the terraces and mount out of the rubble of the walls and keep. He was succeeded by his son Lewis (died 1724), who was created Earl of Rockingham in 1714 and whose younger brother Thomas was the rebuilder of Harrowden Hall (see description of this site elsewhere in the Register). Little was done at Rockingham Castle however until Richard Watson, youngest son of the third Earl Sondes, inherited the Castle and brought in Anthony Salvin to refurbish it in 1836. He built a modest three-storey tower onto the Gallery wing, a two-storey gable on the south-west range, and added passages and staircases to improve the accommodation. Richard was succeeded by his eldest son George who built a square tower as bachelor quarters on the eastern end of the south-west range; a lack of funds prevented further work. Rockingham remains (1998) in private hands.